A Story for Every Scar
by Rosage
Summary: Joining back with the mercenaries puts Shinon in a sour mood. Learning an oddball wyvern knight's secrets won't make it better, but it can at least give him entertainment, and maybe even a taste of home.


_Belated exchange fic for ancazur, who I very much hope enjoys it._

Campfire smoke tinged otherwise clean air as Shinon ambled through the camp. Everyone had laid their spears down for the night to celebrate a reunion with some retainers, and it was almost…comfortable, like if he closed his eyes he could pretend he was in a stone fort and not barracks. Only the foreignness of the songs filling the air reminded him that though he was back on Crimean soil, he couldn't afford to get cozy.

Movement caught his eye. He found a pair of knights sucking face and sneered at their discarded Begnion armor. The second they were ordered to stand down, peacocks were just as human as the rest of them.

A group of men slung out over each other's shoulders passed, laughing and shoving each other into the dirt. Shinon scowled. Trust Gatrie to leave him to celebrate a night off alone in favor of chasing some pegasus chick's skirt. He sure as hell wasn't going to drink with Ike, so he headed toward the edge of camp. They were too near the border to know the haunts, but bars were the same everywhere, even in nobles' backyards. If some guard got in his face about curfews, he'd just tell them to shove off—or so he thought, until he spotted the wyvern curled up at the camp's edge.

He paused. When the beast didn't bite his head off, he continued past, stopping again when he saw the wyvern's owner lying stretched out against the beast's side.

His first thought was that someone had drugged the guards. Shinon couldn't care less if Begnion's brats were ambushed, but he sure as hell wasn't going to get caught in the middle of an attack when he was the only one sober enough to fight it off. He kicked the guard's boot. "Hey, you alive there?"

The guard grunted and opened one eye. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. I thought Daein might've drugged the guards, but you seem fine."

"As you can see. Wake me if something does happen." Yawning, the guard nestled under his wyvern's wing. Shinon would have gone on his way, but the situation got on his nerves. He didn't smell alcohol on the guy, so he had no excuse for napping on the job. Not that it was Shinon's business, but it chapped him that someone was getting paid to slack around when it was his own neck on the line if the enemy snuck past.

_Heh, _he thought._ What am I, Titania? _

"Can I do something for you?" the guard asked. Shinon almost jumped. He could've sworn he'd heard a snore a second ago.

"Nah." he said. Just because he'd turned into Titania didn't mean he had to nag. Besides, if the guy was this alert to Shinon, he was probably paying more attention than he thought. He shrugged and went on his way.

xxxxxxx

Shinon's headache when he woke had less to do with hangovers and more to do with all the damned _noise _the camp made now that Begnion and the sub-humans had joined them. He'd been careful not to drink too much—it wasn't like anyone had been there to drag him back to camp, and besides, he'd been wary ever since their last night in Daein, when he woke up with the pleasant memory of upchucking on Ike's shoe and the less pleasant feeling that he'd spilled his guts to the brat.

He cursed himself as he strapped on his quiver. What kind of loser was he, joining back with the mercenaries so he could follow the brat's orders and pine over someone who wasn't commanding anything but worms anymore? He caught sight of a scar by his elbow and remembered the mistake that had led to it being there. It was an ugly bump, but too small for the stupidity of his error. He shouldn't have gotten away with just bruises, not when Greil had a gash across his chest that was probably crawling with bugs.

As always, he only gave himself the luxury of self-pity until he'd finished strapping on his armor, after which he left his tent with only one thing on his mind—survival. He hadn't gone far when he noticed a foot sticking out from between the tents. One look at the nearby crates told him this was a supply area, so it wasn't likely some drunk sap had just missed his tent. Maybe that guard _had _let the enemy through last night. Knowing you couldn't be too careful in war, he moved stealthily toward the boot. He raised his eyebrows when he saw the wyvern knight lying sprawled on his back, one hand draped over his stomach.

"Again?" Shinon muttered. He shook his head and turned to leave. Spying a flash of movement, he froze and looked out of the corner of his eye. One of the soldier's hands was still draped over his stomach, but the other had grabbed the handle of an axe hidden in the shadows. If not for Shinon's experience scouting from trees, he wouldn't have noticed the tiny sliver of eye the man had opened.

_Not bad, _he thought.

"Hey, hold your horses," he said. "I'm not the enemy." The man peered at him for a moment before closing his eye with a grunt. In the daylight, Shinon could see that a patch covered his other eye and that he was clad in Daein's black armor. The man tilted his head up and squinted at him.

"There some reason you're not leaving me to my sleep?"

"Yeah. We're in an army and the sun's up, for one."

The man quirked an eyebrow. "Is that all? If so, I'll go report myself to my superior and save you the trouble."

"Hey, I'm not your nanny. I'm just curious. How can you be so alert when you're asleep? Sounds useful to me."

"You just answered your own question. I know better than to let my guard down during war."

"Then how do you explain that eyepatch?"

"None of your business. If you're done prying…" The man yawned. Shinon could take a hint. He left him to his nap and headed toward the mess tent to make sure Rolf wasn't donating his rations to the squirrels.

xxxxxxx

He had forgotten about the napping soldier when, while scouting the edge of the forest around Castle Delbray that night, he heard a voice coming from the ground.

"Jill, didn't I tell you to keep that ponytail out of my—" The wyvern knight titled his head up and blinked. "Well. That could have been unfortunate."

Hand on his hip, Shinon quirked an eyebrow. "There a problem?"

"No, my mistake. As you were." He leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eye. Shinon considered him.

"So, what's your story? You're obviously not Crimean."

"You worried I'm here to axe your group in the back?"

"Nah. I'm just curious why anyone would prefer Crimea to Daein."

The soldier stretched an arm and rested it behind his head. "That's a funny thing for a Crimean mercenary to say."

Shinon scowled. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't have joined back up with this hopeless cause."

"And what makes Daein better?"

"They'll give promotions to anyone as long as they're skilled, and they don't pick stinking sub-humans as allies. What's not to like?"

The soldier gave Shinon a grim look before settling back. "If that's your take on it, I won't waste my time disagreeing."

Not sure what he'd done to make the guy moody, Shinon said, "Hey, you still haven't answered my question."

"If I didn't answer something, I probably didn't want to."

"Peh. Fair enough."

Glancing up at the sun's position made Shinon realize the army would soon be moving out. Before he reported back, he decided to clear up one more thing.

"What's your name, anyway?"

The man peered at him through a lazy eye. "It's Haar. Now, for Ashera's sake, can you let me sleep?"

xxxxxxx

Being in the thick of battle kept Shinon's mind busy, but once they'd wrapped up and the camp was filled with people mourning he began to sulk. Not in the mood for target practice after a day of fighting, he walked through camp aimlessly, ducking and turning around whenever he saw one of the mercenaries. Word on the street was that Ike was planning a showdown with Greil's killer, and Shinon wanted nothing to do with them until they stopped speaking that name. It wasn't that he wanted to forget Greil; he was just sickened by the fact that Ike was arrogant enough to think he would avenge him.

_If he beat the commander, he's slaughtering the brat. Period. _The thought would have given him satisfaction, but all he could think about was how Ike had already stolen the honor of being there, and now he was stealing this honor, too.

_Peh. It's not like he'll succeed. Greil's killer will still be out there if I decide I have an arrow with his name on it. _Even as he thought it, he knew he wouldn't do anything about it. Revenge was for people who didn't have to worry about their own survival. Besides, he had to face the stinging fact that unlike the brat, he didn't know the murderer's face.

He kicked a rock. It clinked against a metal boot. Haar turned around with a raised brow. If it wasn't for his eye patch, Shinon might not have recognized him now that he was standing up.

"Oh. You," Haar said.

"What about me?"

"You have business with me?"

"Why do you ask?"

Haar shrugged. "You're the one who's always pestering me while I'm trying to sleep."

"And you're the one who's always sleeping in the middle of camp. You're lucky I don't step on you."

"I'd catch you by the heel before you could."

"Pah. You think your senses are more alert than mine? And you napping like a baby? Dream on!"

Shinon had a whole slew of remarks (and boasts about his instincts) prepared in case Haar wanted to start something, but though Shinon could have used a brawl to let off some steam, Haar wasn't into it. "Think what you want," he said.

Shinon considered him. Haar was unusually relaxed for someone in the middle of war. If some cocky upstart let their guard down it would have gotten under Shinon's skin, but Haar seemed more like a battle-hardened veteran. There was something…familiar about it that Shinon couldn't put a finger on, but it made some of his tension unwind.

"So what _are _you doing here, anyway?" Shinon asked.

"You aren't going to stop prying until I tell you, is that it?"

"Hey, it's not like it's any skin off my nose either way. I just thought it'd be nice to talk to someone who's not part of some namby-pamby Crimean charity."

"If you hate your employer that much, why stay?"

Shinon scowled. "None of your business."

"Yet you'll still pester me for my story?"

"Let's say I lost a bet and leave it at that."

"Fair enough. In that case, let's say I lost my commander and leave it at that."

Shinon felt a twang, not from sympathy, but because the grief of that morning resurfaced. He shoved it down before Haar could think he was pitying him. "Oh. That's rough. But wait, this army probably killed him, right?"

"If you get to the end of things, then yeah. But it was Daein's fault. The orders from the top were corrupt, and that's why he died. That's why I'm on your side. I want revenge for him." He cocked his head. "Satisfied?"

Shinon mulled it over. "I can't say I get it, but whatever floats your boat. I mean, I can understand feeling responsibility toward an old commander."

"Then what isn't there to get?"

"The whole revenge thing. It's not for me, but if you feel that way, I still don't get why you're with us."

"Well, you don't have to get it. In any case, it's not like I owe Daein any loyalties. I left Begnion to follow my commander, so now that he's gone, I have no reason to stay with Daein."

That surprised Shinon. "Wait, you were with Begnion? And as a knight? You some kind of blue blood?" He looked Haar over and noted his scars, his forward gaze, and his plain, dented armor.

"That's all in the past. Begnion's senate was even more corrupt than Daein. I have nothing to do with them now."

A noble with a conscience. Didn't that beat all. Shinon felt his mouth quirk. "Heh. Well I can respect that, too."

As he walked away, he used the conversation as an excuse to trip a Begnion soldier. Mentally, he wasn't focused on the jeer, but on an enemy he couldn't picture, a shadowed forest where he wouldn't know where to aim even if he'd had the chance.

xxxxxxx

Shinon watched the others surround Ike wearing nauseatingly happy smiles. He refused to join them in celebrating. The whelp had gotten lucky; the castle collapsing had done the villain in. He didn't care if Ike claimed to have won before that, there was no way he'd bested Greil. None. He crossed his arms and waited for Titania to beckon him over just so he could reject the invitation outright. When she proved to have eyes only for Ike, Shinon scuffed the dirt and walked away.

Scowling at the ground, he almost ran straight into Haar—which would have been unfortunate, since he almost got a face full of axe. "Watch where you're swinging that thing!" Shinon said, glad to have a reason to shout.

Haar lowered his axe. "You could watch where you're walking. Just because we're in camp isn't any reason to let your guard down."

"Look who's talking," Shinon said. "What are you doing training after a battle? Shouldn't you be passed out behind a tent?"

"The final battle's close. I figured I should be prepared." Haar's grip on his axe tightened. Shinon recalled their last conversation.

"You said you're in this for revenge, right? For your commander?"

"Seems I said that."

Shinon stared at the castle remains in the distance. "How do you know when you've got it?"

"The captain will be avenged when King Daein falls."

"Just when he falls? You don't care if it's you that runs him through?"

"Truth be told, killing isn't my thing. Besides, I've heard he has the same armor as that knight that General Ike just felled. Seems I don't have a choice but to let the general handle him."

"And you're really okay with that?"

"Like I said. No choice, right. Now, do you mind leaving me to train?"

Figuring he didn't have much choice in that himself, Shinon left to go get in some shooting. Just because Greil's killer was dead was no reason to get sloppy, not with a war still threatening his neck.

xxxxxxx

As general, Ike spent the evening after the Crimeans won rubbing elbows with kings. His loyal posse of fools stuck with him, but the rest of the common folk went to nearby bars to drink in peace. Shinon kicked back with a tankard, letting fears for his life go for the night. He wasn't naïve enough to think that an end to war meant an end to fighting, though it did mean fewer job opportunities for him. But he was employed for now, and he figured he'd rather party than mope.

Gatrie thumped him on the back and talked about how many girls they'd get now that they were heroes. Shinon was shocked he'd come along rather than taking advantage of Ike's influence to get in with noble ladies, but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, especially since a beer had been enough to convince Gatrie to buy his 'good buddy' a victory round. Shinon smirked. Hanging around morons wasn't so bad. Maybe he'd even stick with the mercenaries during peacetime.

He was thinking with boredom about the little old ladies they'd help cross the road when he spotted Haar sitting off to the side. A tankard sat in front of him, but he didn't seem to be drinking. A further look told Shinon the man was asleep. He looked more peaceful in slumber now that he'd seen King Daein fall.

Slapping a hand on the table, Shinon pushed himself up. Gatrie grabbed his arm. "You'll miss the shinging," he slurred.

Shinon yanked his arm away. "Thank Ashera for that."

"Where're you goin'?"

Smirking, Shinon jerked his head toward Haar's table. "To wake up sleeping beauty," he said. "I'm going to get the story behind that eye patch." As he woke Haar with a clap on the shoulder, he thought that maybe peacetime wouldn't be so boring, after all.


End file.
